The Peter Fleming Collection

Peter Fleming OBE (1907–71) was a journalist and writer and one of the last great adventurers of the twentieth century. He began his career as a special correspondent for The Times and later wrote for The Spectator for the remainder of his career as a journalist. He served with the Grenadier Guards during World War II and from 1942 was in charge of military deception operations in Southeast Asia. He is author of several classic books, which include Brazilian Adventure, One’s Company, News from Tartary, Bayonets to Lhasa and A Forgotten Journey, published here as To Peking. In his memory, the Royal Geographical Society established the Peter Fleming Award for projects that seek to advance geographical science.

'Like Peter Fleming, it's a fascination that I, too, shared as a child, the explorer in me wanting to emulate the brave, intrepid Colonel Percy Fawcett, who ventured up the Amazon.'Michael Palin